This invention relates to an environmentally benign and reusable plastic packaging system, and particularly relates to several aspects thereof. In the first instance, the invention is directed to a knock-down, foldable, reusable of plastic case for use in delivery of goods to a consumer. Another aspect of the present invention is directed to the installation whereby the reusable case is recovered and made ready for re-use.
The genesis of the present invention is that it was first developed to find use in the brewery industry. However, the present invention is applicable to any industry where boxes or cases in which goods are delivered to consumers may be re-used for further delivery of further goods to further consumers. Several examples of such use for the reusable packaging system of the present invention include the automotive industry, where pre-packaged parts are delivered from their manufacturers to the automobile assembly plants; the snack food industry, where packaged snack foods such as potato chips, popcorn, and the like are delivered to supermarkets, where they are unpacked and put onto the shelf or re-sale to the consumer, and where the cases are folded or knocked down for re-use by the snack food manufacturer; the beverage industry generally, where beverages are packed in boxes or cases from which they are removed for sale as individual units to the retail customer; the food industry generally where bottled or canned food stocks of all sorts are likewise unpacked from the box or case in which they are delivered for sale from the shelf in individual units; aspects of the bakery industry where packaged loaves of bread of quantities of buns, cakes, or cookies, and the like are sold at retail in individual units; the brewery industry, especially that aspect of brewery industry which services the hospitality market where individual bottles of beer are sold for consumption at the time of sale by the dining or drinking customer; and even other aspects of the brewery industry where the customer takes home a sealed and packaged quantity of beer bottles. In most of those industries, except the automotive industry and, to some extent, the snack food industry and the brewery industry for sales only to the hospitality market, there is no re-use of the boxes, cases, or containers in which units of the goods being sold by their manufacturer are shipped to the customer. It is evident on its face that any reusable packaging system which provides for re-use of outer packaging boxes, cases, or other containers, could benefit the environment quite dramatically. Reusable plastic packaging cases, in particular, would result in considerably less consumption of paper and corrugated cardboard, resulting therefore in considerably less disposal and landfill. Accordingly, the present invention provides for considerable savings of natural resources, and considerable savings of money for the industries which adopt it.
For example, studies have indicated that the brewing industry spends more money on packaging each yearxe2x80x94approximately $218 million in Canada and $6.5 billion in the United Statesxe2x80x94than on bottles that are used for bottling beer delivered to the market. One contributing factor is, of course, that bottles continue to be recycled: in Canada, over 90% of beer bottles are re-used about 15 times before they are replaced. Obviously, if the same or better practise could occur also with respect to the case in which beer bottles or any other products are delivered to their consumers, considerably less wastage would occur.
Several approaches, as evidenced for example in the brewery industry, include the re-use of cardboard boxes which are specifically employed in the hospitality industry. In such cases, however, the cardboard cases can only be used for a very few times, and because they are cardboard they are perishable if they get wet. Another approach, particularly as it is evident in the Far East, is to use molded plastic crates, particularly for delivery of bottled beer to the hospitality industry. However, such cases as are used in the Far East, and even cardboard boxes as they are used to deliver beer to the hospitality industry in North America, result in very significant storage problems because the cardboard boxes are not collapsed and the molded cases cannot be collapsed or folded.
Accordingly, another aspect of the present invention, leading to significant savings to any industry which employs the present invention, if the fact that the reusable plastic cases which are provided by the invention are collapsable or foldable when they are not being used, especially when they are being held in inventory at the factory where whatever goods that are to be shipped in the cases are manufactured.
Still further, the present invention provides for printing the plastic cases with information which is germaine to the goods being shipped therein, which information might even be so particular as to identify the particular brand of product which is the case. If, such as in a brewery, a number of brands of beer are shipped from the same brewery plant, there has heretofore been a requirement to store in inventory appropriate cases that are pre-printed with the information for each brand of beer being manufactured. The present invention provides that the cases may be cleaned and washed with such particularity that the information previously printed on them is washed away and fresh information can be placed thereon when the case is re-used.
Accordingly, while the present invention is directed in its first embodiment, being the embodiment which is described in specific detail herein, to the brewing industry, it is a fact that the present invention is directed to a complete system for distribution and re-use of containers which may be used in a variety of industries, as noted above. However, for convenience of use herein, the word xe2x80x9cbottlesxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbottlesxe2x80x9d shall not in any way be inferred to mean specially bottles of beer, bottles of soft drink, or any other food or beverage, but shall mean any kind of good which are pre-packed and which are sold by the manufacturer in quantities of individual units. As noted above, another example which is particularly relevant may be snack foods, where pre-packed potato chips or other snack food products are being placed into reusable cases for shipping to a consumer such as retail store or the like.
The present invention recognizes the need for a system which avoids the wasteful present system of packaging in cardboard cases which are generally not reusable. However, to overcome a previous obstacle in respect of the provision of molded plastic cases, the present invention provides for the reusable cases which are foldable, and on which various information, branding, advertising materials, or the like, can be printed, removed, and replaced with other information upon re-use of the cases in keeping with the invention.
In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide a system which will permit the use and re-use of plastic cases, which preferably are foldable.
To that end, the present invention provides a reusable packaging system for use in delivery of goods in a case to a consumer and return of the case to a supplier of goods for re-use, the reusable system comprising a collapsable case, a case delatcher, a box washer, a case erector, a case filler, and a case sealer.
A case in keeping with the present invention has a planar bottom, a planar top, opposed planar sides, and opposed planar ends. In other words, the case is rectilinear in configuration. A provision of the present invention is that the case is made from plastic sheet material.
The planar bottom of a case in keeping with the present invention comprises a pair of side flaps and a pair of end flaps. One of the pair of side flaps or the pair of end flaps overlies the other pair of flaps when the case is in assembled condition. The overlying pairs of flaps are secured one to another by at least four snap locks, each comprising mating male and female snap lock halves which are arranged to be latched together when the overlying pairs of flaps are in their overlying condition.
The planar top of a case in keeping with the present invention comprises at least one pair of flaps which close the case when they are in a case-closing condition, whereat they are perpendicular to the opposed planar sides and the opposed planar ends, and they are parallel to the planar bottom of the case.
The case delatcher and the other equipment described herein are located at the factory or plant at which the goods to be placed into the case are being manufactured. The delatcher is arranged so as to mechanically delatch the snap locks of an empty case which has folded open top flaps, and to fold open the side flaps and end flaps of the case bottom.
The box washer is arranged to wash and dry open cases that have all top and bottom flaps in a folded open condition, and to fold each washed open case to a flat configuration.
The case erector is arranged to erect a case from a flat configuration to an erected condition whereby the pair of bottom flaps and the pair of end flaps of the planar bottom are assembled together, and the flaps are kept in their open condition.
The case filler is arranged so as to re-fill a washed and erected case with fresh goods for delivery to a consumer.
The case sealer is arranged to fold the top flaps to their case-closing condition and to apply a sealing tape thereacross so as to seal the filled case.
A further aspect of the present invention is to provide a corona treatment unit arranged to corona treat the outer surfaces of the top , bottom, sides, and ends, of a washed open case when in its flat configuration.
The present invention also provides further for and ink-jet printer that is used for printing information on selected outer surfaces of an erected sealed case.
Typically, plastic sheet material which is used to make the plastic case of the present invention is polypropylene sheet material, specially corrugated polypropylene sheet material. However, the plastics materials may be chosen from the group which consists of polypropylene sheet, polyethylene sheet, co-polymers of polypropylene and polyethylene sheet, polystyrene sheet, corrugated polypropylene sheet, corrugated co-polymers of polypropylene and polyethylene sheets, and corrugated polystyrene sheet.
In a particular aspect of the present invention, the snap lock comprises a male snap lock half and a female snap lock half. The male snap lock half has a centrally located stem with a closed cap end surrounded by a radially outwardly directed lip, so that the diameter of the closed cap end at the radially directed lip is greater than the diameter of the stem. There is a skirt which surrounds the stem and extends perpendicularly thereto; and the skirt is provided with a plurality of corner protrusions which extend upwardly from the skirt in spaced relation to the stem and to one another. The female snap lock half has a centrally located opening surrounded by a V-shaped channel and a radially inwardly directed lip. The diameter of the opening is greater than the diameter of the stem and less than the diameter of the closed cap of the male snap lock half, at its radially outwardly directed lip. The female snap lock half is also provided with a skirt which surrounds the opening, and the plurality of corner channels which are shaped and dimensioned so as to receive and accommodate the plurality of corner protrusions therein, also in space relation to the opening and to one another.
The ink which is used for printing information on the erected sealed case at the ink-jet printer is washable away from the surfaces which have been printed by the ink-jet printer during a washing action in the box washer.
When used in the beverage industry, in particular, the system of the present invention further comprises a bottle remover which will remove empty returned bottles from a case when they are returned to a beverage bottling plant for re-use, and before the case is sent to the case delatcher.
In such circumstances as described immediately above, the case filler is a bottle filling machine and a bottle packing machine for packing filled bottles of beverage into a washed and erected case.
Typically, each of the male and female snap lock halves has a quadrilateral configuration, the male snap lock half having four corner protrusions, and the female snap lock half having four mating corner channels.
In any event, the male and female snap lock halves are secured to respective ones of the pairs of side flaps and end flaps of the bottom of the case, in such a manner that they are not removable therefrom.
When ink is used at the ink-jet printer, it is adhered to any selected outer surface of the case which has been corona treated in the corona treatment unit. However, the ink is carried by a solvent which is washable by the box washer, so that after the washed case leaves the box washer it has no information printed thereon.
The box washer is typically arranged to wash the ink which has been printed on a case using water and a washing solution which are sprayed under pressure onto the case being washed.
Moreover, the box washer will, in keeping with the present invention, comprise a closed loop system, so that after the water and washing solution have been used, they are filtered, treated, and re-used.
The corona treatment unit is arranged so as to expose the surfaces of the case that are being corona treated to gas flames.